� The Institute of Contemporary Art is seen along Boston's waterfront Friday, Dec. 1, 2006. The museum opens to the public on Sunday, Dec. 10. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole) Ran on: 12-05-2006 Boston's new Institute of Contemporary Art opens to the public on Sunday. It was designed by Diller Scofidio Renfro architects. less

� The Institute of Contemporary Art is seen along Boston's waterfront Friday, Dec. 1, 2006. The museum opens to the public on Sunday, Dec. 10. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole) Ran on: 12-05-2006 Boston's new ... more

Photo: LISA POOLE

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� A visitor passes between a photograph by Noriko Furunishi, left, and an exhibit called "Turning the World Inside Out," by Anish Kapoor, right, at The Institute of Contemporary Art, Friday, Dec. 1, 2006 in Boston. The museum opens to the public on Sunday, Dec. 10. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole) less

� A visitor passes between a photograph by Noriko Furunishi, left, and an exhibit called "Turning the World Inside Out," by Anish Kapoor, right, at The Institute of Contemporary Art, Friday, Dec. 1, 2006 in ... more

Photo: LISA POOLE

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In Boston, a whole new perspective on new art

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Back to Gallery

2007-04-12 04:00:00 PDT Boston -- From even a short distance, the facade of the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston's new building is a pale gray enigma. It almost might have been formed from the mist rising from the harbor on the other side.

No wonder: The ICA's architects, Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, were previously best known for "Blur," a temporary structure made out of fog that they created in Switzerland in 2002. Adding to the mystery is the lack of a big, obvious sign for the entrance, obliquely set at the ICA's southwest corner.

But the harbor side of the 65,000-square-foot, $50 million building is as flamboyant as the street side is subtle. A giant top floor cantilever stretches out toward the water, looking as if it wants to both sail and fly. Suspended under the cantilever, seeming about to fall off, is a digital media center called the Mediatheque. From inside, the glass front frames an aquatic view with neither horizon line nor sky in sight, suggesting that the entire external world is water.

Almost everything about the ICA has changed since its move in December to new quarters in Boston's Seaport District. The new museum is also supposed to help establish the identity of the Seaport District itself, an area even most native Bostonians know only vaguely. It was long cut off from downtown by an elevated highway that, as part of the city's infamous, way-over-budget and long-overdue Big Dig project, has been put underground.

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Now the city's focus is shifting toward the harbor and acreage ripe for development, with the ICA as its anchor. Though the immediate area is dominated by parking lots, those too will go underground as new office buildings, hotels, restaurants, residential and retail spaces appear above.

Existing Seaport attractions include the Boston Children's Museum -- set to reopen Saturday after a 23,000-foot expansion -- and the Ellsworth Kelly murals in the U.S. Courthouse across the street from the ICA. The world-class New England Aquarium, popular tourist spot Faneuil Hall and the Italian-flavored North End are just a mile away.

Founded in 1936, the institute had always lacked an identity. In its former headquarters in the city's Back Bay, it operated as a Kunsthalle, a space for motley temporary shows with no permanent collection of its own. Its 19th century building, originally a police station, had been chopped up awkwardly into galleries that never really worked. With the move to its new digs in the Seaport District, the Institute has purpose-built galleries and three times the exhibition space, and it finally becomes a collecting museum.

As a museum designed for the 21st century, the ICA isn't acknowledging any boundaries between the various artistic disciplines. It will accommodate performing arts in a 325-seat theater -- a desperately needed facility for Boston's small dance, music and drama groups, which are chronically in need of performance venues, and for presenters bringing in groups from out of town. Seating in the theater is on a steep angle that ends in a stage set against another watery view. That backdrop can be used for performing, or become translucent, or be blacked out altogether.

Light and transparency are hallmarks of the building's architecture, but the architects have taken into consideration that light is an enemy to most art. So while much of the perimeter of the gallery floor is made of glass that lets natural light stream in, the galleries within are solid-walled boxes that sunlight doesn't penetrate directly.

"Super Vision," the current exhibition, is ICA curator Nicholas Baume's take on how new technologies have influenced the way artists -- and the rest of us -- see. Yoko Ono's "Sky TV" is a live video feed of the sky outside the ICA transmitted to a television inside. Josiah McElheny's "Czech Modernism Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely" is a series of elegant decanters inside a mirrored case that repeats them endlessly. James Turrell's "New Light" is a seemingly limitless space of color and light. Including 27 international artists, "Super Vision" is on view through April 29.

Coming later this spring is the largest survey to date of one of the most influential photographers of our time, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, and the artist's first solo show in a U.S. museum since 1993. Based in New York, diCorcia captures people in everyday activities -- pushing elevator buttons or ironing -- and, using surreal lighting, makes them into eerie icons. The exhibition is at the ICA from June 1 to Sept. 3.

Speaking of super vision, the ICA lies along the HarborWalk, which will eventually stretch for more than 46 miles, linking the city's North End, the New England Aquarium and various wharves, piers and beaches. Where this shoreline pedestrian route reaches the ICA, the wooden planks of the walkway obligingly rise to form a grandstand where the public can rest while watching the sea and sky.

If you go

All locations are in Boston.

Getting there

From San Francisco, United and American airlines fly nonstop to Boston; JetBlue adds nonstop flights from SFO on May 3. The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston is about a five-minute drive from the airport via the Ted Williams Tunnel.

Where to stay

InterContinental Boston, 510 Atlantic Ave. (617) 747-1000, www.intercontinentalboston.com. The city's newest luxury hotel is all sparkling glass and granite, and right on the waterfront. Its ICA package includes a double room, two tickets to the ICA, breakfast for two, health club and pool access, and a "welcome gift" from $275 a night. Ask for the Art Museum package when calling the reservation line, (877) 747-2678.

Legal Test Kitchen, 212 Northern Ave. (617) 330-7430, www.legalseafoods.com. This is a chic, hip update of the famous Legal Seafood chain, with fusion flavors and trendy small plates. Average lunch check $10-$20.

What to do

The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 100 Northern Ave. (617) 478-3100, www.icaboston.org. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tues.-Wed. and Sat.-Sun., till 9 p.m. Thurs.-Fri. $12 adults, $10 students and seniors, free for ages 17 and younger. Free for families with children younger than 12 on the last Saturday of the month and free for all from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays.